Makai Senki Disgaea
Makai Senki Disgaea (魔界戦記ディスガイア, Makai Senki Disugaia?, literally Netherworld Battle Chronicle Disgaea) is an anime series based on the video game Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. Makai Senki Disgaea follows the same general plot as the game, but with several alterations to character roles and the chronology of events. The anime was licensed by Geneon Entertainment before closing their doors in 2007. On September 1, 2010, North American anime distributor Funimation Entertainment announced that they have rescued the series and will release the complete series in 2011. A bonus feature on the DVD of Disgaea 2: Cursed Memories was a trailer of what the Disgaea anime would look like. The trailer showed mainly scenes from episode 1 of the game where Laharl is awakened by Etna and he challenges Mid Boss in his castle. Also shown were Flonne's descent into the Netherworld, Gordon piloting his ship through space, and a peculiar battle between Laharl and Baal (who is visibly absent in the current anime). However, the anime turned out to be completely different from what was shown in the trailer. No explanation was given for the drastic departure of the final anime from the trailer. A preview of the Disgaea anime was also available on another Geneon anime DVD, Hellsing Ultimate OVA I. Makai Senki Disgaea is also the title of several distinct manga and light novel series based on the Disgaea game series. Plot Two years ago, the angel apprentice Flonne was sent to the Netherworld to assassinate King Krichevskoy. However, when she arrived at the overlord's castle, it was covered in flames. For the next two years, Flonne searched for her target, narrowing her search to a local dump. She found a coffin with Krichevskoy's emblem on it and tried to carry out the assassination. However, it turned out that it was not Krichevskoy, but his son Laharl. Learning that his father has died, Laharl set out to claim the title of overlord for himself. Flonne and another demon by the name of Etna followed after him. Characters Laharl Voiced by: Kaori Mizuhashi (Japanese), Barbara Goodson (English) Two years after the death of his father, King Krichevskoy, Laharl was awakened with the ambition to become the next Overlord of the Netherworld. Laharl is an extremely self-centered individual, and insists that he is evil with great fervor, but he occasionally fails to hide his compassion, invariably leading to much teasing on the part of his vassals, Etna in particular. Laharl is very insecure with his emotions, and believes that they are signs of a weakness that Demons should not have. As such, he always responds to his vassal's taunts with adamant refusal of any kindness in his heart, usually accompanied by a rather unneeded show of force. Despite his rather slim and childlike frame, Laharl possesses immense physical strength, as well as powerful magic, and often displays his power in excess to enforce his authority over his vassals, to intimidate his opponents or when he's outraged. He is ruthless in battle, and thinks nothing of the life of his opponent until they are at his mercy. He also has an irrational fear of sexy women. In the end Laharl starts to understand what Flonne meant by love. When she is turned into a flower as punishment by Seraph Lamington, Laharl gives up his life. He is then reincarnated as a prinny. Flonne Voiced by: Yuko Sasamoto (Japanese), Sandy Fox (English) Flonne is an angel apprentice and strong believer of love who is sent to the Netherworld to assassinate King Krichevskoy, only to find out that he is already deceased. When she learns of Laharl's refusal to believe in love, she becomes Laharl's follower in order to find good in him. She is very naive and can go on the same topic for a while. She worries about everyone, but doesn't seem too hesitant to take down a necessary opponent. Etna Voiced by: Tomoe Hanba (Japanese), Michelle Ruff (English), Kate Higgins (English trailer) Etna is Laharl's subordinate. Though she seems to serve him faithfully, she has her own secret agenda. She previously served the late King Krichevskoy. She made a promise to the king to protect Laharl, though she doesn't respect him as a superior. She herself desires to be the Overlord. Ironically, she seems to be extremely reluctant to assume the role of Overlord when Laharl named her as his successor before destroying his existence to save Flonne. Vyers Voiced by: Chihiro Suzuki (Japanese), Grant George (English) Vyers is a self-proclaimed "rival" of Laharl. He calls himself "The Count of Beauty" or "Dark Adonis", but Laharl and others refer to him simply as "Mid Boss", much to his chagrin. He seems to know when and where to appear whenever Laharl is in a jam or when he simply wants to challenge Laharl. It is hinted that he is Laharl's father. Prinnies Voiced by: Junji Majima (Japanese), Grant George (English) Prinnies are human souls sewn into penguin-like beings with demon wings and pouches. They do hard labor for very little pay as punishment for the evil deeds they have done on Earth. Etna hires an army of Prinnies who tend not to listen to her until she threatens to hurt them, although she often does so anyway. Seraph Lamington Voiced by: Junji Majima (Japanese), Jamieson Price (English) Seraph Lamington is the leader of Celestia. He is the angel responsible for sending Flonne down to the Netherworld to assassinate King Krichevskoy. Captain Gordon Voiced by: Nobuo Tobita (Japanese), Michael McConnohie (English), Jamieson Price (English trailer) Captain Gordon is the 37th Defender of Earth. He has an assistant named Jennifer and a robot named Thursday, and with them he explores space and assaults evil doers. He is very loyal to angels even going as far as bowing and kneeling for them, but demons are automatically considered targets by him. Jennifer Voiced by: Chiwa Saito (Japanese), Paula Tiso (English) Jennifer is Captain Gordon's assistant. Despite her sexy appearance, she is a scientist with a Ph. D. She is Thursday's creator. Thursday Voiced by: Yurika Ochiai (Japanese), Bob Papenbrook (English) Thursday is the robotic member of Captain Gordon's team. It is the information station of the group, responsible for analysing and fixing things. He can also transform into various weapons. Kurtis Voiced by: Kousuke Toriumi (Japanese), David Lodge (English) Kurtis is another human from Earth who works under General Carter and the Earth Defense Force like Gordon. He also suffered a traumatic experience, in which a group of terrorists destroyed the building where he and his family were in. Theme Songs Opening theme : "Aishitageru" (愛したげる) Performed by: LOVERIN TAMBURIN Lyrics and composition by: aya. Arrangement by: Akihiro Ending theme : "Kusari" (鎖り) Vocals and composition by: Akiko Kawakami Lyrics by: Hiiro Misaki Arrangement by: Katsu Takahashi Episodes List of Makai Senki Disgaea Episodes Other Versions Disgaea Novels-A set of novels written by Sow Kanimiso and illustrated by Chou Niku (although they were aided by Takehito Harada in the beginning) These novels begin with a novelization of the first game and then continues the story ten years later. The novels introduce many new characters including Laharl's relatives, Flonne's family, and Gordon and Jennifer's daughter. While it is unknown if the novels are considered canon, it can fit alongside Disgaea and Disgaea 2 in the canon due to the placement of the novel's plot (Disgaea 2 takes place only three years after the game, whereas the Disgaea novels are placed ten years after the first game.) Currently, there are six novels: Enter the Maoh, Revelation, Returned, On Love part 1 and part 2, and Battle of the Maoh (which also feature appearances by Zetta, Pram, Salome, and King Drake from Makai Kingdom) Laharl, Etna, and Flonne also appear in all other Nippon Ichi novels. This includes the Phantom Brave and Makai Kingdom novels. Recently, a novel for Disgaea 2 has been released. Disgaea Manga-While not necessarily canon, the Disgaea manga illustrated by Arashi Shindo follows the basic storyline. Many events in the manga, while similar, have been altered completely and the humor is a lot more random. (i.e. Laharl, Etna, and Flonne begin to believe that Mid Boss is a pedophile due to his recurring presence among the three) Many characters also appear to have different personalities (i.e. on occasion, Lamington will be seen baking a cake). The art style is also very different as many of the characters appear somewhat more mature and the art is very shōjo-like. Broccoli Books released the manga in September 2006. Disgaea 2 Volume 1 was released February 2007, and the subsequent Volume 2 is expected in July 2007. Anime vs. Game The anime generally follows the plot of the game, but there are some minor and major differences. *King Krichevskoy is said to have died choking on a "Dumpling of the Damned", rather than a "Black Pretzel". *As far as we know, this is a fact for the anime series; we are never told that it was a lie to cover up the fact that he was killed by an alternate Overlord. In fact, the alternate Overlord never shows up. *Also, Maderas is later seen gloating about poisoning the dumpling so we are left to assume he really did die eating a dumpling. *Laharl wakes up in a garbage dump instead of the castle. *Flonne wakes him up instead of Etna, mistaking him for Krichevskoy after seeing the Overlord's mark on the coffin. *Etna put a bounty of 10 million HL on Laharl and ordered the prinnies to pass them around. Though Laharl eventually found out about it, he did not find out that Etna was responsible until Maderas's introduction. *Gordon, Jennifer, and Thursday appear in the beginning and act as the antagonists for much of the series, attempting to fix their ship with the bounty placed on Laharl. *Flonne loses her pendant in the very beginning of the series. *It is this moment that Etna shows up to aid Laharl. *Also, instead of Vulcanus trying to steal the pendant, Flonne really did lose it, and the pendant is later found by Thursday. Vulcanus then takes it from them and loses it when it burns his hand. *Rather than randomly falling on Vyers, the pendant teleports above his head. *The dragon that Flonne summons never actually attacks Laharl, since Flonne is too weak to keep it summoned. *Laharl meets Vyers while returning to the Overlord's castle, instead of in Vyers's castle. *Instead of jumping into the lava-filled pit to get the pendant, Laharl grabs it with his scarf. *An episode is added, where, on their way back to the castle, they stop by to rest at a place called the Netherworld Hall of Treasures. During the night, Flonne and Etna switch personalities and they must confront their fears to change back. *Prinnies use fish as weapons instead of knives and bombs. *Hoggmeiser's son first told Laharl and the others about Hoggmeiser stealing things from the castle, including the Demon Tome which is needed to become the Overlord. He then asks Laharl to kill Hoggmeiser because he doesn't like the way his father has been acting. *Later, Porkmeister (named Koganeski in the anime) said that he sold the Demon Tome to a pawn shop. It was bought by Jennifer. *When Laharl attempts to kill Hoggmeiser, Porkmeister decided that he really did love his father. Laharl, rather than leaving them alone, sends them both to a different dimension. *Laharl found Sardia randomly in the middle of a forest instead of fighting her after sending out the letter challenging anyone who wanted to be the overlord. She was after the bounty instead of the title of the Overlord. *He then made Sardia his vassal and ordered her to tell him who told her about the bounty, leading him to Maderas. *Laharl finds Maderas in his castle. *Instead of trying to kill all three of them, he traps Laharl and Flonne inside a game board, where would be forced to go through humiliating acts of torture for all eternity had Etna not saved them. *Maderas hid Etna's memories inside the minds of three prinnies, who eventually exploded from having to hold them in for so long. *Instead of stealing all of Etna's memories, he supposedly stole some embarrassing memories that Etna threw out and blackmailed her with them. *Etna had the decency to show varying degrees of remorse and regret over her betrayal of Laharl when confronting Madaras in the game; her anime counterpart just laughed it off while making it clear that they were still rivals for the title of Overlord. *There was an episode added where a girl named Maharl claimed to be Laharl's sister. She was actually the leader of a biker gang called the Netherworld Empresses, and she was after the Black Lizard's Tail, the greatest treasure passed down in Laharl's family. *There was an episode added where every prinny in the Netherworld left to create an independent country of, by, and for prinnies. One prinny started calling himself the Prinny Overlord and was the leader of Prinny World. Pringer X appeared to fight Laharl, but it was defeated. *It is here that Laharl meets his mother, in prinny form. *Prinny World is destroyed after the floating island falls from the weight of too many prinnies. *The hero prinny also makes an appearance, even though he isn't supposed to become Hero Prinny until after the events of Disgaea: Hour of Darkness. *Laharl becomes the Overlord after finding the Demon Tome in Captain Gordon's ship, while Gordon was giving Laharl and the others a ride to the castle. *The Overlord's castle is destroyed at first, but is restored with the Demon Tome when Laharl became the Overlord. *The first Defender of Earth and the Prism Rangers never made an appearance. *In the war between Earth and the Netherworld, Thursday was needed to open a path between the two worlds. *Thursday was reprogrammed to side with the EDF after opening the path. *Vulcanus gave the EDF a giant blue stone, same as the one on Flonne's pendant but bigger, which they used to make an anti-demon cannon. *Kurtis took Etna, Flonne, and Jennifer prisoner together, and Gordon and Laharl had to work together to save them. *The EDF destroyed the Overlord's castle with the cannon. It is unknown how they rebuilt it, since they never visited the castle again until the very end of the series, after some time had passed. *When Jennifer was modified, she was given a headband that controlled her mind instead of her clothes simply changing colors. *Flonne only killed one angel accidentally. When the angel fired an arrow at them, she made a barrier, which the arrow bounced off, hitting the angel and killing it. *Though Vyers did speak to General Carter, he never let Carter see him. Carter wondered if it was an angel and if he had been betrayed. *Laharl agreed to a treaty with Earth suggested by Gordon, but Gordon never became Laharl's vassal. Instead, he returned to earth after the war. *Instead of just finding all the prinnies gone, Laharl and the others ordered the prinnies to use the EDF's ship to take them to Celestia, but instead they took them to the Lunar Snowfield. *Vyers showed up to stop Laharl from interfering with the prinnies being reborn. *Vyers also went to Celestia with Laharl and the others. *Seraph Lamington turns Vulcanus into a frog instead of a flower. *Though Laharl doesn't actually kill Seraph Lamington, he still needs to sacrifice himself to save Flonne. *He can later be seen in his prinny form in the very end of the series. *Laharl liberally uses dark magic in combat while Etna demonstrates profficiency in it at varying points of the anime. This is in marked contrast to the game where Laharl's character statistics are designed to favor sword skills over magic combat, and Etna's only canon use of magic in-game is for a fire spell to strike Flonne with. Category:Disgaea Category:Anime